Circuit-controller.



W. C. REED.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3o` 1913.

1 ,267,454. Patented May 28,1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTBC. REEILOF DA'LTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE 'TELELECTRIC COM- .,PANY, '0F ,PITTSFIELLD, MASSACHUSETTS, .A FCOBPOMTIUN 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

.CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

Application led January 30, 1913.

To all whom it may` concern Be ity known that I, WALTER C. REED, a

citizen of the 'United States residingy at ated means included in another circuit or circuits, `and is particularly intended to yprovide a device of this character rwhich will 'be serviceable for use in electricallyoperated piano ,players for the purpose of opening and closing circuits which operate appliances for producing sustained `expression effects in .the `compositions played. Accordingly, my improvements are herein shown and described as embodied in a circuit-controller designed for the specific purpose just referred to, and reside in certain features ot construction and arrangement hereinafter explained in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of my circuit controlling `appliance as preferably constructed and arranged;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of so much of the lsame vas is behind the Vsection line in Fig. 15

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the same; and

Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section through one of the magnets illustrated in the other figures.

'The particular form of circuit-controlg ling appliance herein described is adapted to secure independent control of four distinct circuits corresponding to four -di'erent expression-producing devices, such as, for example, the loud and soft pedals of a piano and resistance-varying arrangements for subduing the loudness of the notes struck by two independent groups of the piano keys, but it will be understood that my improvements may be utilized as Well for controlling any desired number of circuits, from one upward.

In the drawings, 2 represents a base plate having mounted thereon a series of four electro-magnets 3, each of which is preferably of the solenoid type and has a plunger amature 4 arranged to move horizontally Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

SerialNo. 745,094.

-within themagnet, as shown in Fig. 4. The

magnets 3 Imay be constructed in vany usual or suitable manner, but their plungers 4, instead of being constantly subjected to the action of a spring or gravity tending to move them in one direction, are in this case vleft free, so that when any plunger occupies either its outermost or its innermost posiltion it Vwill remain at rest without restraint until it y1s pulled inward by the correspond` ing magnet or until it is purposely moved outward, as the case may be.

In order to limit the range of movement ofthe plungers 4 and render their operation noiseless I provide the ends of each plunger with reduced screw-threaded extensions 5 and 6 carrying felt disks 7 and 8 forming stops adapted to bring up against the cor- -responding ends of the magnet and separated by a distance equal to said range of movement, the disk 7 being backed up by an abutment 9 adjustably mounted on the threaded extension 5 and held in place by a lock nut 10, rand the disk 8 being backed up by a tip 11 hereinafter described, which is screwed onto the threaded extension 6. The main or unreduced portion. of the plunger is located adjacent to one of the felt disks and thus determines the position assumed by the tip 11 when the corresponding magnet is energized, and preferably, as in the example illustrated, the action of cach magnet is to draw its tip toward it.

Each of the plungers 4 is adapted to open and close a corresponding circuit by operating a contact device which is preferably constructed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which 12 indicates a metallic strip shaped like an inverted U and fixed to an insulating block 13 carried by the base plate 2, each strip 12 being located in front of the corresponding magnet 3, and 14 indicates a .pair of spring wires secured at one end to the block 13 and having their free ends arranged to kspring into contact with the corresponding strip 12 on opposite sides of the latter when permitted to do so. Metallic clips 15 and 16 held in contact with the strip' 12 and wires 14 respectively serve as a convenient means for connecting these parts to the corresponding circuit wires 17 and 18, which form a part of a pedal-operating or other circuit to be controlled. It will be seen that the circuit through said wires 17 and 18 will be closed whenever contact with its strip 12, but will Ybe broken whenever both of the wires 14 are spread apart and so moved out of contact with said strip, and for spreading said wires 14 the tip 11 above referred to is utilized. This tip, which is made of hard rubber or other insulating material, is provided with a reduced portion 19 the diameter of which is less than the distance between the free end portions of the wires 14 when the latter are in contact with the corresponding strip 12, and with another portion 2O the diameter of which is greater than the distance above referred to. Between the portions 19 and 2O the tip has a tapering portion 21 adapted to act as a cam or wedge to force the wires 14 apart, and in the example illustrated, in which the closing of the circuits represented by the wires 1 .7 and 1S is effected by the energizing of the corresponding magnets 3, the arrangement is such that the inward movement of each plunger 4 results in withdrawing the larger portion 20 of the tip 11 from between the wires 14, thereby permitting said wires to spring into contact with the strip 12 and close the circuit. The object of employing two wires 14 in each contact device is to make it certain that the circuit will be closed, even though one of the wires should accidentally become bent or the parts should be otherwise disarranged sufliciently to hold the wire on one side of the strip 12 out of contact therewith after the plunger has been drawn into its magnet.

After any one of the circuits through the wires 17 and 18 has been closed as above described by the energizing` of the corresponding magnet 3, such circuit will evidently remain closed until the plunger 4 of that magnet is intentionally moved outward and caused to spread the corresponding wires 14 apart, whereupon the circuit will be opened and will remain open until the magnet 3 is again energized, since the lateral ,pressure of said wires upon the portion 20 of the tip 11 will have no tendency to move the plunger 4 in either direction. The plungers 4 of the various magnets 3, if several such magnets are employed, may be moved outward manually if desired, but preferably a supplementary electro-magnet is provided for the purpose, and in the construction represented provision is made for moving all of said plungers outward by means of a single supplementary magnet 22 located above the other four magnets at the middle of the series and clamped in place by a bar 23 secured at its ends` to brackets -24 projecting upward from the base plate 2. Said magnet 22 may be of the same construction as the magnets 3, but the inward movement of its plunger 25 is in the opposite direction from that of the aceras/i plungers 4, and said plunger 25 is provided with a spring 26 for forcing it outward to the limit of such movement, which is determined by a stop 27 carried by one end of the plunger and adapted to abut against the adjacent end of the magnet 22. To the opposite end of the plunger 25 is attached a bar 2S carrying a series of fingers 29, one for each magnet 3,-each linger being located in such position that whenever the magnet 22 is energized and its plunger is drawn inward (to the left as shown in Fig. 1) any of the plungers 4 which are in their innermost position at that time will be pushed outward and caused to spread the corresponding wires 14. Preferably the engaging ends of the fingers 294 are covered with felt, as shown at 30.

Metallic clips 31 secured to an insulating block 32 mounted on the base plate 2 serve as terminals for the coils of the several magnets 3 and and are connected to the circuit wires through which said magnets are energized as desired. rll`he wiring diagram is shown in F ig. 3, in which 33 indicates a wire connecting one of the clips 31 to one end of each of the coils of the magnets 3, the other ends of which coils are respectively connected by individual wires 34 to corresponding clips 31. The other two clips 31 are connected respectively to the ends of the coil of the supplementary magnet 22 by wires 35 `and 36, and also to circuit wires 37 and 38 forming part of an individual energizing circuit for this magnet. Of the other circuit wires connected to the clips 31 the circuit wire 39 serves as a common return wire for all the magnets 3, while each of the other circuit wires 40 forms a part of the energizing circuit for one of said magnets only.

The operation of the apparatus, as described thus far, is as follows: Whenever the circuit through one of the wires 40 is closed the corresponding magnet 3 is energized and caused to close the circuit through the corresponding wires 17 and 18, which circuit will remain closed until the supplementary magnet 22 is energized by the closing of the circuit through the wires 37 and 38. When this occurs all of the circuits through the wires 17 and 18 which were previously closed are opened, and all the expressionproducing appliances are therefore rendered inoperative until one or more of the circuits through the wires 17 and 1S are purposely closed by they energizing of the appropriate magnet or magnets r3. 1t is sometimes desirable, however, to open one or more of the previously-closed circuits through the wires 17 and 18 without affecting or preventing the simultaneo-us closing 0f some other one of these circuits, and this may be provided for by making the fingers 29 in the form of springs of such flexibility that whenever any magnet 3 is energized its plunger 4 will be held in its innermost position aga-inst the pressure of the corresponding spring finger, even though the plunger 25 is drawn inward by the energizing of the supplementary magnet With this arrangement said magnet 22 and any of the magnets 3 may be energized simultaneously, and the result in such case will be that the plungers of those magnets 3 which are energized will be drawn inward or so remain, while the plungers of any magnets 3 which are not energized at this time will be forced outward by the operation o't the supplementary magnet 22, which should obviously be so designed as to have suiiicient power to draw its armature inward against the spring action of the fingers 29 as well as against the spring 26. It

is to be observed, however, that it is not essential to employ resilient fingers for the purpse just described, since practically the same result will be obtained if the momentary energizing of the magnet 22 is immediately followed by the energizing of that magnet 3 which corresponds to the circuit desired to be kept closed. The same result will also be obtained if the circuit through the last-mentioned magnet is kept closed during the momentary actuation of the magnet 22, provided the latter is strong enough to overcome the pull of the magnet 3, since in such case the latter magnet will immediately become operative to draw in its plunger as soon as the magnet 22 is denergized. f

It will be obvious that the form and type of the magnets employed, as well as the other details of the construction illustrated, may be variously modified without departing from my invention, and that my circuit controller may be used to advantage in a variety of situations where it is desired to control one or more electric circuits by a relay mechanism.

I claim:

1. A circuit controller comprising an electromagnet, a movable member subject to the attraction thereof, a contact device including two circuit terminals, a metallic strip connected to one of the terminals and a pair ot spring wires each connected to the other terminal and independently movable in opposite directions into contact with the metallic strip, and means carried by said movable member for spreadingv the spring wires in one position 0f the member and thereby moving both of them out of contact with the metallic strip, and for releasing said wires and permitting them to spring into contact with the metallic strip in another position of said member.

2. A circuit Controller comprising a solenoid having a plunger movable under the attraction thereof, a contact device including two circuit terminals, a metallic strip connected to one of the terminals and a pair of spring Wires each connected to the other terminal and independently movable in opposite directions into contact with said metallic strip, and an insulating tip carried by said plunger and having two cylindrical portions connected by a tapering portion, said cylindrical portions being respectively of such diameters as to spread and release the spring wires.

3. A circuit controller comprising a plurality of independently-energized horizontal solenoids each having a Afree plunger movable inward thereby when energized and projecting at both ends beyond the ends of the solenoid, contact devices each controlled by one end of one of said plungers, a supplementary horizontal. solenoid having a spring-actuated plunger movable in one direction. thereby when energized, and means carried by the latter plunger for engaging the first-mentioned plungers and moving them outward independently of one another.

4. A circuit controller comprising a plurality of electro-magnets each having a free member movable in one direction by the attraction of the corresponding magnet and adapted to remain without restraint in either of its eXtreme positions, a supplementary electro-magnet and yielding means operated thereby for moving said members in the opposite direction independently of one another, and contact devices corresponding to independent. circuits and each controlled by one of said members.

5. A circuit controller comprising a plurality of solenoids each having a free plunger movable in one direction thereby and adapted to remain without restraintl in either of its eXtreme positions, a supplementary solenoid having a plunger movable in the opposite direction thereby, means for restoring the latter plunger to its normal position, a plurality of resilient fingers connected to the plunger of the supplementary solenoid and each located in position to engage one of the first-mentioned plungers at the limit of the inward movement of the latter, and Contactl devices each controlled by one of the latter plungers.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th day of J anuary, 1913.

WALTER C. REED.

Witnesses:

PHILIP W. GOEWEY, GEORGE P. REES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents euh, by addressing the Commissioner o! Putentl,

Wallington, D. 0. 

